A donkey kick is a simple way to practice the progressive movements of doing a handstand. Doing donkey kicks helps you build strength in your arms, gain control of your bodily movements, learn how to shift your body weight to find balance. With diligent practice, you can master a donkey kick and learn how to do a handstand in no time!

Steps

Part 1

Positioning Your Body

1

Get into your starting posture. Begin with both of your feet flat on the floor and your arms raised above your head, near your ears.[1] Your feet should be positioned evenly right next to each other.

For children and beginners, you can adjust the starting position by beginning in a squatting position, resting your body weight on the balls of your feet. Your arms should be on the outside of your legs, flat on the floor.[2]

2

Touch the floor. If you are starting in a standing position, bend at your waist and knees to reach down and touch the floor. Your hands should be evenly positioned, about shoulder width apart.[3]

If you are starting in a squatting position, your hands are already on the floor, but should still be evenly positioned across from each other, about shoulder width apart on the outside of your knees.

Part 2

Performing The Donkey Kick

1

Lean forward. With your hands flat on the floor, lean forward (almost like you’re rocking), to shift your weight from your feet, and balance your body weight on your hands.[4] Be sure to keep your arms and elbows straight as you shift your body weight to your hands. At this point, most of your body weight should be resting on your hands, and only your toes should be touching the floor.

Avoid turning or tucking your neck. You should try to keep your neck as neutral as possible.[5]

You can practice this movement a couple times until you get the positioning and rhythm of shifting your weight to you hands.

2

Kick up. When your weight is shifted to your arms and hands, use both of your feet to kick off from the floor and try to align your hips with your shoulders.[6] Keep your knees bent as you kick off from the ground. Try to hold the position of your feet in the air, and then allow your feet to softly come back down to the floor. Both of your feet should land on the floor at the same time.[7]

This might take a few tries, but every time your kick off from your feet, try and lift the core of your body more and more upright.

As you’re able to align your hips above your shoulders, try to hold your body position (now in a half handstand), and slowly try to extend your legs into a full handstand.

3

Modify the donkey kick. If kicking off the ground with both of your feet is too challenging, you can modify the donkey kick to kick off with one foot.[8] From the squatting position with your hands on the ground, shift your body weight to your hands, and kick off from the ground with your dominant foot. For example, if you write with your right hand, your dominant foot is your right foot. Once your dominant foot is off the ground, bring your other foot up to meet your dominant foot in the air. Try to hold your body weight above you before coming back down and landing.

Your dominant foot kicking off the ground first is what gets your feet off the ground. Your other foot meeting your dominant foot is what helps lift your body up to align your hips over your shoulders, and position your core vertically.

You can also modify the landing to land on one foot rather than landing on both. Simply bring one foot down to the floor, and bring your other foot down to meet it.

Try to land as softly as you can. This will increase your stability and control as you learn how to perform a handstand.[9]

Community Q&A

You can practice doing pony kicks, which are similar to donkey kicks, but you start from a standing position and kick off from the ground one leg at a time, and bring your other leg up to meet the first leg. You can also try performing donkey and pony kicks against a wall. Simply face a solid wall, and place your hands about a foot away from the wall. Perform a donkey or pony kick, and use the wall as a point of stability to rest your legs in the upright position.